The Master of Social Work (MSW) is a professional degree designed for individuals with a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree or individuals with bachelors degrees in other disciplines. The MSW degree is designed for students who seek to advance their career trajectory through mastery of a specialized social work practice area. Graduates of the Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) MSW program will be qualified to pursue the highly recognized Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) designation. The clinical MSW program provides training in culturally relevant evidence-based interventions, research, and theory to produce practitioners in advanced clinical social work in two specializations: (1) Medical, and (2) Behavioral Health. Graduates train to create solutions for solving various problems at the micro, mezzo, and macro level. Further, by way of the discipline's signature pedagogy, the MSW field practicum offers state-of-the-art supervised internships in hospitals, rural clinics, private practice counseling, and community-based children and family services.  

The PVAMU MSW program is the only Texas program at a Historically Black College/University (HBCU). It is among just three MSW programs in Texas focusing on social work in healthcare, but the only MSW program in Texas to specifically train students for medical social work. The medical specialization gives the PVAMU MSW program a competitive edge to meet social workers' staffing demands for rapidly growing hospitals and health care systems.  

The MSW aligns with its cultural history and the recent African American Studies Initiative, emphasizing that PVAMU students receive education about African American history, politics, and economics. In this case, empirically proven social work interventions to reduce physical and mental health service disparities among African-descent people. The program provides an open space for students to embrace Africentric core values of spirituality, interdependence, and collectivism. It also adopts a learning environment free from dynamics commonly experienced by minority students at other institutions (e.g., alienation, discrimination, stereotyping, etc.). PVAMU provides a place where students are accepted and challenged to grow. 

Mission

The mission of the Master of Social Work Program at Prairie View A&M University is three-fold: 

1) To prepare clinical practitioners specialized in medical and behavioral health with a focus on Africentric perspectives and diverse populations;  

2) To improve human well-being while promoting values of human dignity, inclusiveness, diversity, equality, and economic, environmental, and social justice;  and

3) To alleviate the effects of violence and poverty in rural and urban settings while advocating for improved social policies and services, locally and globally.

This mission statement derives from the University's commitment to excellence in teaching, research and scholarship, service, and global outreach.